Happy Anniversary, Bob - Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Twenty-five years ago, on a beautiful spring day in Oregon, we were married at a small church in a wooded setting with amazing rhododendrons blooming all over the grounds. Our ceremony took place in the sanctuary and our reception took place in the basement meeting room.

Our boys looked so handsome in their tuxedos. Michael was 10 and Randall was 14. They were our best men.

My friend played Pachelbel's Canon in D on the piano. We were surrounded by family and friends. Our minister performed the ceremony.

For the reception, we did the usual cutting of the cake and champagne toast, along with catered food. The Portland Trailblazers were in the playoffs, so we had a TV and chairs set up in the basement for those who wanted to watch. Hey, this wasn't my first rodeo. LOL. I figured Bob should enjoy the day too.

We have had many years of adventures, including a 100-year flood event when we lived on the Willamette River near Wilsonville, Oregon. The flood did not touch our in-the-process-of-being remodeled home, but it did ruin our boat house and dock, and took away a big chunk of our bank. When the bank dissolved after midnight, it undercut our large deck. The first cut made by a carpenter sent about half of our deck down the bank. We had to have our stairs and the remaining deck rebuilt. We also had to have a structural engineer give us a plan on how to anchor our bank so we wouldn't lose our house if there was ever another flood.

Other adventures included my being able to travel with Bob for eight months when I was between jobs. Bob was sales rep for a commercial roofing product. His territory was northwest North America: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Alaska. We took a couple of long trips. He made sales calls in Anchorage, Alaska and we spent ten days exploring on the days he wasn't selling. Wow, Alaska is awesome!

We also went on a trip to eastern British Columbia and Western Alberta. He made sales calls in Calgary and Edmonton. On his days off, we explored the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper. We also visited these Canadian National Parks: Mt. Revelstoke, Glacier, Yoho, Kootenay, Banff and Jasper. Our main focus in the parks were Canadian railroad history, waterfalls, canyons, lakes, and hiking.

A few years later, we took a Sound of Music bus tour starting in Vienna, Austria and ending in Munich, Germany. After the tour, we took a week and traveled by train to visit Bob's brother, Aaron who was working at an army base north of Munich near the Czechoslovakian border. Then we traveled west across Germany by train to visit my Mom's relatives in Rot, Germany in the Black Forest. When we finished visiting we took the train to Munich and flew back to Seattle, Washington.

In 2011, we celebrated my 60th birthday with a one-month vacation to Australia. We had Hawaiian Air Miles that paid for both our round-trip tickets from Portland, Oregon, and we had three weeks of time shares. Our out-of-pocket expenses were food, attraction admissions, a rental car with full insurance, and a week's worth of motel rooms. We had the time of our lives. An unexpected find was a forest full of glow worms. Luckily it was a pitch black night, no moon and we found them by walking in total darkness on an unknown road. We almost gave up, but we found them. The German couple who were in the same place looking for them had given up and were about to drive away. We caught them and directed them back down the road to view the glow worms. Truly a magical moment.

Our lives changed dramatically in 2011. That is the year both of us lost our jobs within five days of each other while we were living in Hawaii. We could no longer afford our house and immediately put it on the market. Our choices were narrowed down to two: (1) rent a place in Hawaii and get new jobs, or (2) sell everything, buy a 5th wheel and pick-up truck, move to the mainland and become full-time RVers. We chose option #2 and have enjoyed our time in our 5th wheel.

Currently, our home is San Antonio where we will be while we pay off debt. Both of us have great jobs that we love.

Through the years we have communicated, adapted, adjusted and been there for each other. It hasn't always been easy, but knowing we have each other makes the journey more enjoyable.

Our adventure continues. Stay tuned.

To my knight in shining armor: Happy anniversary, Bob. I love you forever and ever.